Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't also really have a lot of questions but I think I'd be remiss if I didn't comment a bit on some of the concerns I also have in echoing my colleagues.
Over the last few years, I've had an opportunity to become more familiar with people that are experiencing homelessness and in particular the youth. I don't think that anybody on the social development committee would argue that that sort of has been one of the reoccurring themes throughout all of the conversations, the engagement, the people that come to us, is this huge gap for youth and housing. Personally, I've worked with a youth where the department's response to me was well, if they don't want to go to the shelter, which we've already heard is full, then they need to find somewhere for themselves to live and in which case then the department would help them sort of set up that foster care or guardian-type situation.
And to me, it's just -- it's heartbreaking to watch this young person who so wants to do better in life and has come from just nothing, absolutely nothing, with no supports, trying to raise themselves up and do better through sport, through other things, and then just constantly hitting roadblocks and barriers at every opportunity. And I don't know how at 16-years-old this person continues to persevere because I know when I was 16, there's just no way that I would have been capable of advocating for myself, let alone, you know, actually following through on everything.
So I just wanted to stress the real importance here of the youth component and the youth piece and also echoing the concern around, you know, that sort of almost being that well, this person doesn't fit into this program or this policy and therefore there's nothing we can do. And it falls on everybody else to then pick up the pieces for that child. And as my colleague mentioned, it was extremely heartbreaking to go to sit and listen to young people talk about not even having their basic needs met and a place to lay their head at night.
And thinking back on the vulnerability of myself as a young woman, I can't even imagine not having my mother's home to go home to every night to sleep in and the choices that would have to be made in order to find a place to sleep and then add in -- I grew up at least in British Columbia where it was only the most minus five degrees outside; it was not minus 35, so I don't even know how some of these kids are making it through the night. And I feel that given the situation that we're going to see more and more youth, unfortunately, choosing the route of suicide as they feel hopeless.
I guess my last -- or my next comment is around just looking at the revised estimates for this area for the total contributions, that there has been no change from the 2022-2023 to the 2023-2024. Again, very disappointing and quite surprising given that this is the number one priority for us as MLAs and for all of us when the 19 of us first met, save a couple that have joined us since, and I know that they too also still feel very strongly about this given their statements in the House.
So I guess I'll ask a question around can the Minister commit to somehow, in the next while, increasing this amount of funding, whether that be through a supplementary appropriation for the emergency shelters, etcetera, or by giving a large donation to Home Base so that they can then build their second part of their complex? Thank you, Madam Chair.